Two Rivers pursues wayside ownership

Air view of the proposed site for the Spirit of the Rivers sculpture and the mouth of Forget Me Not Creek, just north of the DOT wayside on Memorial Drive, with Aurora medical office building in background.(Photo: Courtesy of Lester Public Library Flickr Collection)

Two Rivers City Council on Monday night endorsed, in concept, a transfer of the wayside on Memorial Drive, opposite Woodland Drive, from DOT to city ownership.

Some very worthwhile projects are planned for this area in the near future. Local control of the property should provide greater flexibility for these projects, while assuring the wayside continues to serve the traveling public.

The Spirit of the Rivers sculpture, the work of Manitowoc native son R.T. "Skip" Wallen, will take its place along the Lake Michigan shoreline just north of the wayside in 2017. For more details, visit www.spiritoftherivers.org.

This project will include not only placement of the sculpture, but related site improvements. Planning, constructing and maintaining these improvements should be more simple with the site under local control.

Habitat restoration at the mouth of Forget-Me-Not Creek, where it flows into Lake Michigan, just north of the wayside, is now being planned by Woodland Dunes Nature Center.

That organization recently received a $100,000 grant award from the Fund for Lake Michigan for such restoration work, at the creek’s outfall and locations upstream of Highway 42.

Again, these improvements to the creek mouth, along with related educational signage, might be better implemented under an agreement between the nature center and a local government.

No disrespect to the State of Wisconsin, it’s just that these issues lie outside of DOT’s primary mission and focus.

As for operation of the wayside itself, local ownership will allow for local control of when the facilities are open. This has been a concern in recent years, when tight DOT budgets resulted in closing the restrooms early in the fall travel season.

Clearly, ongoing repair and maintenance costs will be associated with the city taking on this responsibility. But we do expect to see the Spirit of the Rivers organization take responsibility for long-term maintenance of the sculpture site.

Further, the planned improvements involving the sculpture and creek restoration will make this area an even greater focal point for visitors than it already is.

Overall, the city council and I agree the benefits of local control over the planning, improvement and management of this high-visibility property outweigh the costs.

WisDOT appears very much open to the proposal and is willing to continue funding maintenance through the 2016 season. We are also discussing some state investment in the facility — like resurfacing and re-striping the parking lot — as a condition of the transfer.

Terms for such a land transfer need to be hammered out in a formal agreement — one that will make clear the city’s ongoing responsibility to maintain the wayside for use by State Highway 42 users, and will include a clause for the property to revert to WisDOT if the city no longer fulfills that responsibility.

Such a formal agreement will require additional city council action within the next two to three months, I hope. Stay tuned.

Two Rivers City Manager Greg Buckley can be contacted by calling 920-793-5532 or by emailing gbuckley@two-rivers.org.